Bottle safety closure

ABSTRACT

THIS DISCLOSURE RELATES TO A SAFETY CAP FOR A BOTTLE WHICH MAY CONTAIN HAZARDOUS MATERIAL AND WHICH IS SIMPLE FOR AN ADULT TO OPEN, BUT ESSENTIALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR A CHILD OF LIMITED STRENGTH TO OPEN.

June 19, 1973 w J, LANDEN BOTTLE SAFETY CLOSURE Original Filad April 17,1970 INVENTOR United States Patent Office Re. 27,673 Reissuecl June 19,1973 Int. Cl. B65d 55/02 US. Cl. 215-9 23 Claims Matter enclosed inheavy brackets II appears in the original patent but forms no part ofthis reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates theadditions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a safety cap for abottle Which may contain hazardous material and which is simple for anadult to open, but essentially impossible for a child of limitedstrength to open.

This invention relates to bottles adapted to contain hazardoussubstances, and more particularly relates to safety closures for suchbottles which render them unopenable by persons of limited strength.

The hazard of many substances to human life, particularly to smallchildren, is widely recognized. For this reason there have been manysuggestions of providing safety closure caps for bottles. The presentinvention provides a bottle closure cap which is very simple for anadult to remove but will be impossible for a child of limited strengthto open and gain access to its contents. The closure assembly providedby the present invention is further arranged so that it is adapted forautomatic filling of the bottle and assembly of the caps thereto. It iseconomical to manufacture and would thus minimize any additional cost tothe buyer for the improved safety construction.

Briefly stated, the invention is one form thereof comprises a a bottlemember having a resilient means disposed about its neck which is engagedby a locking member. The locking member and a closure cap are soconstructed that when the cap is put on the bottle the locking member isurged against the resilient member which, in turn, biases the lockingmember into interlocking engagement with the cap. With this arrangement,the locking member must be Withdrawn from engagement with the cap beforethe cap can be removed. By selection of various parameters, the forcenecessary to remove the locking member from interlocking engagement withthe cap may be predetermined, and the assembly may be renderedunopenable by a child.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved safety cap for a bottle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved safetycap for a bottle which is economical to manufacture and readily lendsitself to automatic production line facilities for filling and capping abottle.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedsafety cap and bottle combination in which the cap is readily lockedonto the bottle but may be unlocked therefrom by a very simplemanipulation of a locking member.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel areparticularly set forth and distinctly claimed in the concluding portionof this specification. However, the invention both as to itsorganization and operation, together with further objects and advantagesthereof may best be appreciated by reference to the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the drawings, where- FIG. 1 is aview in half section of an upper portion of a bottle and safety captherefor embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view looking down on the bottle of FIG. 1 with the cap andlocking member removed;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the locking member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view seen in the plane of lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view of the bottle cap of FIG. I seen from the undersidethereof;

FIG. 6 is a view in section of the cap of FIG. 5 seen in the plane oflines 66 of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the manner in which thelocking member may be removed from interlocking engagement with the cap;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the invention as appliedto a glass bottle; and

FIG. 9 is a view in perspective of a member used in the assembly of FIG.8.

The invention as applied to a nonvitreous bottle is shown in FIG. 1 andcomprises a bottle 10 of nonvitreous material such as a plastic materialformed from a blow molding process to define the bottle 10. The bottle10 includes a neck portion or member 11 having threads 11a defined onthe upper portion thereof. Extendnig from neck portion 11 is [a]resilient biasing [member] means in the form of a flangelike member 12.The flange member 12 may be completely circular or as shown in FIG. 2may be divided into segments 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d. Also defined on neck11 are splines or protruding detent members 13.

A locking member 14 is adapted to fit over the neck 11 of bottle 10 andbe locked in an angular position by the splines 13. For this purpose.member 14 is formed with inwardly directed detent members or splines 15which define spaces 15a therebetween. With this arrangement lockingmember 14 may be simply dropped over the neck of bottle 11 in anautomatic processing line and will be self-seating in that the splines13 will be received in any of spaces 15a. To facilitate this assembly,the bottom portions of the detents 15 may be rounded or made on a taper(not shown) so member 14 will readily seat itself around neck portion 11in engagement with splines 13.

As more clearly shown in FIG. 4. member 14 is defined with an undercutshoulder 16 adapted to fit over and thus axially reference the radiallyouter limit of flange member 12, [and] the under portion thereof [is]being further defined with a generally concave recess exemplified by atapered or frustoconical surface 17 for reasons hereinafter madeapparent. Defined on the upper portion of locking member 14 is anannulus of ratchetlike teeth 18 ada ted to be placed in lockingengagement with a cap member 19.

Cap member 19 has internal threads 20 defined thereon adapted totlireadably receive threads 11a on neck 11. Defined on the underside ofcap 19 is an annulus of ratchetlike teeth 21 adapted to interlock withteeth 18.

In operation, when the bottle 10 is filled with the locking member 14disposed thereon, the cap 19 is then screwed on to the neck 11 until asealing member 22 on the undersurface of the top of the cap engages thetop edge of neck 11. Otherwise stated, cap 19 is fully threaded ontoneck I]. As this occurs, the ratchetlike teeth 21 of cap 19 may slip onthe ratchetlike teeth 18 of locking member 14. This will force member 14downwardly on biasing member 12 which will be deformed or biaseddownwardly as shown in FIG. 1. When cap 19 is threaded onto neck 11, theupward bias of the resilient biasing member against member 14 will urgemember 14 into interlocking engagement with cap 19 and the verticaledges 18a and 21a of ratchetlike teeth will prevent removal of cap 19.

Cap 19 can only be released when the interlocking ratchet teeth 18 and21 are removed from engagement. This is achieved by applying adownwardly directed force as represented by the arrow F in FIG. 7 tolocking member 14, which downwardly directed force against the resilientflange 12 will move locking member 14 downwardly and disengage the teeth18 and 21, thus permitting the cap 19 to be easily threaded off of neck11.

When the desired member or volume of contents have been removed frombottle 10, an adult may then easily provide locking closure again bythreading cap 19 back onto threads 11a until the cap bottoms on theneck. During a portion of such operation, the teeth 21 will slip on theteeth 18 by virtue of the inclined surfaces 21b and 18b, locking member14 will then urge flange member 12 downwardlly which, in turn, willexert an upward bias on member 14 urging it into interlocking engagementwith cap 19. The recessed or tapered surfaces 17 of locking member 14permit locking member 14 to act on the edges of flanges 12 and urge theflanged member downwardly while moving downwardly with respect thereto.It will be apparent that such a recess will be necessary to act on theedges of the flange and bend it downwardly.

The magnitude of the force F necessary to release the member 14 fromlocking engagement with cap 19 may be predetermined by the resilience ofthe material 12, the configuration of the resilient biasing member, thatis, if it is a flange, whether segmented or a complete disc, and theradial size of the biasing member, together with other parameters. Theseparameters may be chosen in accordance with the degree of force that itis desired to exert on the locking member 14 before opening of thebottle is permitted.

In a preferred form of the invention which uses nonvitreous material andin which the flange member 12 may be formed integrally with the bottleneck, a suitable material for forming the bottle is polypropylene and aparticular designation is Type 220 of Dow Chemical Company. This type ofmaterial may be utilized where it is desired to have a bottle of inertmaterial which is readily adapted for high volume manufacturingpurposes. It is to be understood, of course, that many other materialsmay be utilized for the bottle, the only requirement being that thebiasing member or flange 12 have the desired degree of resilience andflexibility.

It will be noted that from the foregoing, once locking engagement isachieved and the sealing member 22 rests on the upper end of neck 11,the cap is in complete sealing engagement with the bottle 10, and thethreads 21 and 18 cannot be slipped. Therefore, the disclosed bottle andcap arrangement are suitable for holding liquids as well as material inpowder or tablet form.

With the arrangement disclosed, it will be seen that in an automaticprocessing line for filling and capping bottles, the locking member 14may be dropped over the neck of the bottle at one station and will beself-seating on neck 11 and angularly fixed with respect thereto by thesplines 13 extending into recesses a. At a subsequent work station, thedesired contents of the bottle may be placed therein, and then at astill subsequent station, the cap 19 is screwed on to the bottle 10 andthe bottle with contents therein and safety cap locked thereon is thenarranged for shipment to the user. The disclosed arrangement thus lendsitself very readily to processing lines in which bottles are filled andcapped automatically without requiring any additional hand labor.

For convenience, the locking member 14 is formed with a greater diameteras shown or, alternatively, may be fafmed at the same diameter as thelower portion of cap 19 with finger projections (not shown) thereon sothat while the bottle is held in the palm of the hand, the thumb and afinger may grasp the member 14 and depress it as shown in FIG. 7.

The invention is further adaptable for use with glass bottles. FIG. 8discloses a glass bottle 30 having a neck portion 31 threaded at theupper portion thereof as indicated by the reference numeral 32. Theglass bottle 30 is formed with the usual transfer bead 33 which may beradially extended if deemed necessary. As is Well known in the glassbottle forming art, a transfer bead 33 is utilized in the moldingoperation to control the amount of glass in the threaded portion. Amember 34 having a sleeve portion 35 and a radially extended flange 36is placed over neck 31 with the lower edges of the sleeve portion 35resting on transfer head 33. The flangeIs] 36 may be a disc, or may besegmented into flanges, as shown. The configuration of the flanges isnot important so long as they provide the necessary biasing function.The member 34 is preferably formed of a material having the previouslydesired characteristics as, for example, the aforementionedpolypropylene.

Also formed on the outer periphery of neck 31 are splines 37 adapted tohold a locking member 38 in fixed angular relationship to neck 31 aspreviously described. The locking member 38 may be identical instructure to locking member 14 of FIGS. 17. A cap member 39 carrying asealing member 40 is disposed on threads 32 and in locking engagementwith member 38 as shown in FIG. 8. The operation for closing and openingthe bottle of FIG. 8 is the same as that previously described.

A small detent ring 41 may be formed on either of bottles 10 or 30 toprevent member 14 or 38, respectively, from sliding oil the necks if thebottle is held in a completely vertical, upside down position. Thisring, if used, is so dimensioned that the locking member and theresilient member 36 may be easily pushed thereover in initial assembly.

It may thus be seen that the objects of the invention set forth as Wellas those made apparent from the preceding description are eflicientlyattained. Other embodiments of the disclosed invention, as well asmodifications to the disclosed embodiment may occur to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover allembodiments of the invention and modifications of the disclosedembodiments thereof which do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1 [We] claim:

1. In combination, a bottle having a neck portion and being threadedalong said neck portion [to receive a closure cap, a], a closure capremovably engageable to the threaded neck portion, a resilient biasingmember in essentially a radial plane spaced from the base of the neckand at a location axially below the region of threaded engagement tosaid cap, said biasing member including a part fixedly related to saidneck portion and a resilient part integrally formed with saidfirst-mentioned part, [carried on said neck portion and extendingradially outwardly therefrom,] a locking member disposed about said neckportion and engaging said resilient [member] part adjacent its lowerportion, means defined on said locking member and said cap forinterlocking engagement therebetween, said member upon tightening ofsaid cap on said neck forcing said resilient member downwardly wherebysaid resilient member biases said locking member toward saidinterlocking engagement.

[2. The combination of claim 1 further defined in that the bottle isformed of a resilient material and said biasing member is a flangeintegrally formed on said neck] 3. The combination of claim 1 furtherincluding splinelike members on said neck above said biasing member,said locking member fitting over said splines to render said lockingmember nonrotational with respect to said neck.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said interlocking means comprisemating ratchetlike teeth defined on said locking member and said closurecap, said teeth being arranged to permit slippage therebetween as saidclosure cap is threaded onto said neck and prevent rotation of said capfrom said neck when said locking member is biased against said cap.

5. The combination of claim [2] I 3 wherein said locking member isannular in shape and the underside thereof is defined with a concavityso that said locking member may act on the outer edges of said flangemember and move downwardly with respect thereto.

6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said locking member defines anopening for receiving said neck therethrough, a plurality of angularlyspaced detent elements extending radially inwardly of said opening anddefining spaces therebetween adapted to receive said splines.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bottle is formed of glass andsaid biasing member is of a resilient material disposed about the neckof said bottle.

[8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the neck portion of said bottleis formed with a flangelike bead, said biasing member includes asleevelike portion resting on said bead and having a resilient radiallyextending flange] 9. The combination of claim 7 further includingsplinelike members on said neck above said biasing member, said lockingmember fitting over said splines to render said locking membernonrotational with respect to said neck.

10. The combination of claim [8] 14 wherein said interlocking meanscomprise mating ratchetlike teeth defined on said locking member andsaid closure cap, said teeth being arranged to permit slippagetherebetween as said closure cap is threaded onto said neck and preventrotation of said cap from said neck when said locking member is biasedagainst said cap.

11. The combination of claim [8] 14 wherein said locking member isannular in shape and the underside thereof is defined with a concavityso that said locking member may act on the outer edges of said flangeand move downwardly with respect thereto.

12. The combination of claim 7 wherein said locking member defines anopening for receiving said neck therethrough, a plurality of splinesdefined on the neck of said bottle and a plurality of angularly spaceddetent element extending radially inwardly of said opening and definingspaces therebetween adapted to receive said splines.

13. In combination, a bottle of resilient material having a neck portionand being threaded along said neck portion, a closure cap removablyengageable to the threaded neck portion, a resilient biasing flangemember integral with said neck portion and extending radially outwardlytherefrom, a locking member disposed about said neck portion andengaging said resilient member adjacent its lower portion, means definedon said locking member and said cap for interlocking engagementtherebetween, said member upon tightening of said cap on said neckforcing said resilient member downwardly whereby said resilient memberbiases said locking member toward said interlocking engagement.

14. In combination, a glass bottle having a threaded neck portion and aretaining bead near but spaced from the base of said neck portion, aclosure cap removably engageable to the threaded neck portion, aresilient biasing member carried on and disposed about said neck portionand extending radially outwardly therefrom, said biasing memberincluding a sleevelike portion resting on said bend, a locking memberdisposed about said neck portion and engaging said resilient memberadjacent its lower portion, means defined on said locking member andsaid cap for interlocking engagement therebetween, said member upontightening of said cap on said neck forcing said resilient memberdownwardly whereby said resilient member biases said locking membertoward said interlocking engagement.

15. In combination, a bottle having a neck member and being threadedalong said neck member, a closure cap removably engageable to thethreaded neck member, a locking member disposed outside said neck memberand beneath the threaded region thereof, axially resilient biasing meansformed integrally with one of said members and extending into engagementwith the other of said members, said biasing means being in essentiallya radial plane spaced from the base of said neck member and at alocation axially below the region of threaded engagement to said cap,and means defined on said locking member and said cap for interlockingengagement therebetween, said locking member upon securing said cap onsaid neck forcing said resilient biasing means downwardly whereby saidlocking member is biased toward said interlocking engagement, therebeing sufiicient clearance for further downward deflection of saidbiasing means to disengage said interlocking engagement to enable capremoval from the secured position thereof.

I6. The combination of claim 15, in which said biasing means is carriedby said neck member.

17. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neckmember, an internally threaded cap removably engageable to the threadedneck member, a lockingring member disposed about said neck member andnonrotatably associated with said neck member beneath the threadedregion thereof, axially resilient biasing means formed integrally withone of said members and extending radially into engagement with theother of said members, said biasing means being in essentially a radialplane spaced from the base of said neck member and at a location axiallybelow the region of threaded engagement to said cap, and means definedon said locking-ring member and on said cap for interlocking engagementtherebe tween, said biasing means being downwardly deflected andtherefore resiliently biasing said interlocking engagement when said capis threadedly secured to said neck member, there being sufiicientclearance for further downward deflection of said biasing means todisengage said interlocking engagement to enable cap removal from thesecured position thereof.

18. The combination of claim 17, in which said locking-ring member isseparate from said neck member, and in which spline means interengagesaid members to provide said non-rotatable association.

19. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neckmember, an internally threaded cap removably engageable to the threadedneck member, a lockingring member disposed about said neck member andnonrotatably associated with said neck member beneath the threadedregion thereof, axially resilient radially extending biasing meanshaving inner and outer radial limits, said biasing means at one radiallimit being formed integrally with one of said members and at the otherradial limit being axially referenced to the other of said members, andmeans defined on said locking-ring member and on said cap forinterlocking engagement therebetween, said biasing means being inessentially a radial plane spaced from the base of said neck member andat a location axially below the region of threaded engagement to saidcap, said biasing means being downwardly deflected and thereforeresiliently biasing said interlocking engagement when said cap isthreadedly secured to said neck member, there being sufficient clearancefor further downward deflection of said biasing means to disengage saidinterlocking engagement to enable cap removal from the secured positionthereof.

20. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neck, aclosure cap removably engageable to the threaded neck, axially resilientbiasing means including an integral ring engaged to said neck at alocation axially below the region of threaded engagement to said cap, anaxially resilient member integral with said ring, and locking meansaxially positioned by said axially resilient member, said resilientmember being in essentially a single radial plane spaced from the baseof said neck and at a location axially below the region of threadedengagement to said neck, said cap having a locking formation adapted forinterlocking engagement with said locking, means, said locking meansupon securing said cap on said neck forcing said resilient memberdownwardly, whereby said locking means is biased toward saidinterlocking engagement, there being sufiicient clearance for furtherdownward deflection of said biasing means to disengage said interlockingengagement to enable cap removal from the secured position thereof.

21. The combination of claim 20, in which said interlocking engagementis one-way, being antirotational in the cap-unthreading direction.

22. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neck, aclosure cap removably engageable to the threaded neck, axially resilientbiasing means including an integral ring engaged to said neck at alocation axially below the region of threaded engagement to said cap,said biasing means including an axially resilient portion radiallyoflset outward of said neck, said biasing means being in essentially aradial plane spaced from the base of said neck and at a location axiallybelow the region of threaded engagement to said cap, and locking meansaxially resiliently positioned by said ofiset portion of said biasingmeans, said cap having a locking formation adapted for interlockingengagement with said locking means, said locking means upon securingsaid cap on said neck forcing said resilient biasing means downwardly,whereby said locking means is biased toward said interlockingengagement, there being sufiicient clearance for further downwarddeflection of said biasing means to disengage said interlockingengagement to enable cap removal from the secured position thereof.

23. In combination, a bottle of plastic material including an externallythreaded neck, a closure cap removably engageable to the threaded neck,axially resilient biasing means integrally formed with said neck andextending radially outwardly at a location axially below the region ofthreaded engagement with said cap, and locking means axially positionedby an outwardly extending portion of said biasing means, said cap havinga locking formation adapted for interlocking engagement with saidlocking means, said locking means upon securing said cap on said neckforcing said resilient biasing means downwardly, whereby said lockingmeans is biased toward said interlocking engagement, there beingsufficient clearance for further downward deflection of said biasingmeans to disengage said interlocking engagement to enable cap removalfrom the secured position thereof.

24. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neck, aclosure cap removably engageable to the threaded neck, axially resilientbiasing means in essentially a radial plane spaced from the base of theneck and at a location axially below the region of threaded engagementto said cap, said biasing means including an integral ring engaged tosaid neck, said biasing means including angularly spaced axiallyresilient radially outward members integral with said ring, and lockingmeans axially positioned by an outwardly extending portion of saidbiasing means, said cap having a locking formation adapted forinterlocking engagement with said locking means, said locking means uponsecuring said cap on said neck forcing said resilient biasing meansdownwardly, whereby said locking means is biased toward saidinterlocking engagement, there being suflicient clearance for furtherdownward deflection of said biasing means to disengage said interlockingengagement to enable cap removal from the secured position thereof.

25. In combination, a bottle including an externally threaded neck, aclosure cap removably engagea ble to the threaded neck, axiallyresilient biasing means including an integral ring engaged to said neckat a location axially below the region of threaded engagement to saidcap and spaced from the base of said neck, a single continuous radiallyoutward flange member intergral with said ring, and locking meansaxially positioned by an outwardly extending portion of said biasingmeans, said cap having a locking formation adapted for interlockingengagement with said locking means, said locking means upon securingsaid cap on said neck forcing said resilient biasing means downwardly,whereby said locking means is biased toward said interlockingengagement, there being sufiicient clearance for further downwarddeflection of said biasing means to disengage said interlockingengagement to enable cap removal from the secured position thereof.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,200,979 8/1965 Powers 2l5-9 3,510,021 5/1970Silver 2l5-9 3,344,942 10/1967 Hedgewick 21 59 3,410,434 11/ 1968Simmons 215-9 3,468,444 9/1969 Martin 2l5- 9 3,472,411 10/1969 Turner2l5-9 GEORGE T. HALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 215-95

